We, the consumers, are the victims of corporate conglomeration. Corporate conglomeration means when one company owns a number of smaller companies that are being controlled and operated independently, but are all managed by the main company. Therefore, corporate conglomeration has taken over every aspect of the world economy, from soda to food to hotels to gas. Our money is wasted on fuelling the businesses of corporate conglomeration. Media and film production companies ensure their success by using a variety of risk reduction strategies to make the most money from the biggest hits. David Grazian, the author of the book Mix it Up, argues "that decision making in the media industries is primary driven by the minimization of risk," (Grazian, 113). He highlights in his chapter six the strategies of risk reduction which include using as secondary market in way to generate profit from a cultural product beyond its domestic sale in its original format and using product placement as it happens to be a type of advertising but placed in a place we don't expect to see it. There are also other interesting risk reduction strategies, but this time I'm focusing on other risk reduction strategies that I found in Villaggio's cinema.
Since thousands of people go to watch movies weekly in Doha, the cinema has become a perfect location for some businesses to advertise about their products and services. For example, Dr. Hassan Al-Abdulla, a well-known dermatologist doctor in Qatar, has placed a poster of his clinic in Villaggio’s cinema right in the center of the main entrance. So, that as customers walk into the cinema before even getting they’re snacks, they could stop and read about the services that he offers at Dr. Hassan Al-Abdulla Dermatology & Venereology Anti Aging Laser Center.
There are also advertisements placed around the top of the wall. Cadillac, an American luxury type of car, has also placed an ad to advertise about their cars in Doha.
You can’t escape looking at all sorts of advertisements when you’re in a movie theater. I recently went to watch a movie in Villaggio’s cinema, and as I was watching the commercials before the movie started, a Pepsi ad played. It was my first time to see Nicki Minaj’s Pepsi commercial.
Nicki Minaj is an American rapper/singer. I must confess that I once heard her song Moment for Life, but when I heard her song again in the Pepsi ad, I liked her song more. Nicki Minaj’s song was played in a Pepsi ad; therefore it must be a form of using product placement. According to Professor Harkness, product placement is “a form of advertising where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads,” (class notes 02/18/2013). I found out from my online reading that Pepsi is doing a campaign called Live For Now “to amplify the company's longstanding ties with pop culture, said Brad Jakeman, who oversees the creative strategy for Pepsi's carbonated drinks around the world,”(Huffington Post). Pepsi decided to use a popular singer like Nicki Minaj to help flourish the brand’s name and gain it’s popularity back. Pepsi hopes to be number one on the beverages list, but Coca-Cola still is the top soda.
The advertisement in this case is promoting both the singer and the Pepsi company. Maybe the song Moment For Life will gain more popularity because of the Pepsi ad, and maybe a lot of people will feel like having Pepsi after watching this advertisement.
Product placement is advertising through non-traditional ways, especially by appearing in different cultural products of the media such as films, Television series, ...etc. In Hollywood, product placement is most famous for being used in almost every movie nowadays. On the other hand, in the Arab world, product placement in films is not a technique that is used as much. However, product placement has been highly associated with Arabic music industry for years. Product placement in the music industry has proved to be highly effective to the point that Rotana, one of the leading production companies in the Middle East, requires any singer that signs a contract with them to include product placement in his/her music video.
Here are some examples for product placement in Arabic Music videos.
Sony Xperia in Elissa's latest music video for her song "Ajmal Wahde"
Infiniti car in Elissa's latest music video for her song "Ajmal Wahde"
LG phone in Nawal Al Zoghbi's music video for her song "Aghla Al Habayeb"
It is also very common that certain companies would sign endorsement deals with famous singers or actors. For years, the most obvious endorsement deals were Coca-Cola's and Pepsi's deals with various super stars such as, Amr Diab, Nancy Ajram, Haifa Wahbi, Carol Smaha, Tamer Hosny, Cairokee, and many others. These deals end up in the production of different cultural products such as: programs, music videos, and films. All of these cultural products end up being an extended advertisement for these companies.
Coca-Cola's logo, cans, and red color all over Nancy Ajram's music video of her song "Oul Tani Keda"
However, Coca-cola's presence in Nancy's music video isn't as ridiculous as Pepsi's campaign, as they produced an entire film and made sure they colored it blue. Bahr Al Nojoum or Sea of Stars is the name of the musical that Pepsi co-produced. Bahr Al Nojoum is the first Arabic promotional feature film. With no proper storyline, a lot of famous superstars, Pepsi made sure their logo would be on screen as long as possible.
Here's a short clip from the film.
On the other hand, Coca-cola was smart enough to bring it's program, Coke Studio to the Middle East. A program they first launched in Brazil, then took to Pakistan, India, and lastly the Arab world. Coke Studio focuses on mixing two completely different genres of music in one song. The program puts more effort in presenting the audience with good music than rubbing Coca-Cola's logo in their faces. It's definitely a program that includes product placement, however, it respects it's audience way more than Pepsi's musical. Here's an example.
There are also advertisements placed around the top of the wall. Cadillac, an American luxury type of car, has also placed an ad to advertise about their cars in Doha.
You can’t escape looking at all sorts of advertisements when you’re in a movie theater. I recently went to watch a movie in Villaggio’s cinema, and as I was watching the commercials before the movie started, a Pepsi ad played. It was my first time to see Nicki Minaj’s Pepsi commercial.
Nicki Minaj is an American rapper/singer. I must confess that I once heard her song Moment for Life, but when I heard her song again in the Pepsi ad, I liked her song more. Nicki Minaj’s song was played in a Pepsi ad; therefore it must be a form of using product placement. According to Professor Harkness, product placement is “a form of advertising where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads,” (class notes 02/18/2013). I found out from my online reading that Pepsi is doing a campaign called Live For Now “to amplify the company's longstanding ties with pop culture, said Brad Jakeman, who oversees the creative strategy for Pepsi's carbonated drinks around the world,”(Huffington Post). Pepsi decided to use a popular singer like Nicki Minaj to help flourish the brand’s name and gain it’s popularity back. Pepsi hopes to be number one on the beverages list, but Coca-Cola still is the top soda.
The advertisement in this case is promoting both the singer and the Pepsi company. Maybe the song Moment For Life will gain more popularity because of the Pepsi ad, and maybe a lot of people will feel like having Pepsi after watching this advertisement.
